There's something inherently unbalanced about one person or a for-profit organization having (relatively) unchecked control over whether or not someone has a roof over their head. Even after having direct control over how often the tenant has to move, they can also directly influence the tenant's success in finding a new home when forced to—thanks to the “all-important” tenant referral system that is pivotal in determining whether or not other landlords will rent to them. Should the tenant have…

You can't expect the average person to know how to fix large household appliances . If your washer or dryer breaks, it's not exactly recommended that you start taking the thing apart to discover the issue. Most of us don't have the capacity to fix a refrigerator or a stove either---there are some things you just leave to the professionals. That's why it's so odd that u/nopanicprepper's landlord decided that when appliances break , their tenants are the perfect people to fix them. The poor OP ha…

Just the knowledge that our landlords probably bought our apartment for 1/10th it's current value and are living fat off of our rent check every month is enough to grind every tenant's gears, but if a landlord has the audacity to wring out a single cent more than our rent amount at the end of the month, we feel the back of our throats prickle with rage.

Landlords are the scum of the Earth. They hike up the rent 10% every month, they paint over your electrical outlets, and they're clearly under the impression that the entire world exists for their profit. They'll scam their tenants out of anything if it means making an extra buck– At the risk of losing our residence, is there any way for us tenants to retaliate?

This sailor is sticking to the honor code to help people in his community. Not everyone agrees with his hands-on methods, though. The people of the internet are divided over this guy's grandfather's story of malicious compliance. It's a classic tale of landlord versus tenant. Unless you live in a rent stabilized building, your landlord can charge you basically whatever they feel is fair for rent. This is a big problem these days, since many of us are priced out of living in even the most modest…

At one cheap apartment , this couple found themselves faced with massive fines. When you're young, sometimes the only housing you can afford is a cheap and tiny little room. Lots of landlords charge outrageous amounts of money for these little tiny shoeboxes of apartments. They seem to know that if you don't have a lot of money, you may also be low on housing options. Then, you end up signing paperwork that gives the landlord an advantage over you. This person, u/Clintosaurus_Rex, and their gir…

There's a fragile balance of power when renters hand over a check to their landlord every month. Landlords need that money to come in and tenants need to live somewhere, so there's a predictable symbiosis in their relationship. Usually landlords are the ones with the bad rep, thwarting their power over a renter's desperation, but sometimes, landlords turn on other landlords when they get out-landlorded in public.

This choosing beggar finally got what she asked for. As a student, u/Zelmung got some real-world experience at their law school's student program. The OP shares that the service offered people free legal advice, while the student volunteers helped guide their clients through the process. That is a win-win — people in need can find resources, and students can gain insight into the logistics of a case. But as the OP found out, you can't pick your clients. They need help, and they come to the law…

In case you haven't learned this already, it's your landlord's world and you are unfortunately living in it. Yes, in this day and age, it seems like landlords are becoming even more unnecessarily powerful than they should be and are capitalizing on that power as much as they can. This collection of top landlord stories from Reddit's r/LandlordLove subreddit only brings back haunting memories of my first New York apartment, the unstoppable ceiling leakage, and the unsolvable roach infestation. B…

Having your landlord contact you to let you know they're moving into your spare room in a few days sounds like a great premise for a sitcom… but it would be a nightmare to live out in real life. But let's be honest, living with your landlord is never an ideal situation, especially when they go ahead and invite themselves into your living arrangement when you've signed a lease and made a legal agreement that the place is yours to live in for the duration of the agreement. Obviously, there are pr…

We've all heard plenty of stories about shady landlords, but what about when the tables are turned? It's hard to remember that there are some landlords out there that are just regular people and that there are some tenants out there who are to blame for ridiculous living situations. Sure, sometimes it's the landlord who ignores a tenant's pleas to fix a serious roach infestation or to solve a roof leakage issue (yes, these are all things that happened to yours truly). However, every so often, t…

It's not often you'll find people rooting for landlords; there's not exactly anything about a group of people who have a reputation for milking their tenants for cash, increasing rent for improvements and repairs that they never actually completed, and taking deposits with little-to-no justification, that inspires people to root for them. It's worth recognizing, though, that this generalization doesn't remotely cover every landlord out there. There are plenty of landlords out there who are rent…

This landlord turned a sweet deal into a living nightmare.

When you make the decision to brutally and strictly enforce the rules of a written agreement—almost to the point of spite—you'd better make darn sure that you've thoroughly reviewed that agreement yourself. If you want a strict interpretation of something, you'll get it, and anything that wasn't intended to be in there in the first place is fair game. This is your game, don't fault your intended victim for playing it too. Predatory practices from landlords are incredibly common in certain commu…

Getting robbed is a traumatizing experience. Not only was the privacy of your home violated, but there's also a sense of trust in humanity that gets extinguished. In this case, a tenant who had had it with their living situation was on the verge of moving out when her landlord did the unthinkable.

Landlords may be known for their shady practices, but a full-on role-reversal situation is not what we're accustomed to… Before we get into this new drama, let's all take a moment to acknowledge that landlords simply should not be able to get away with most of their ridiculous antics. Whether it's raising the rent well above market value and refusing to negotiate or whether it's refusing to acknowledge your fifth email this month about the roach problem and the need for a major roof repair, we…